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The Power of the Poor | Preview | PBS

To those who watch television in the developed world, there doesn't seem to be a better system on earth than the capitalist system. We are experiencing the longest economic expansion in modern history. Soviet Communism has been defeated. But make no mistake, as we will demonstrate in this program, capitalism is surprisingly vulnerable. The moment of capitalism's greatest triumph is the moment of its greatest crisis, its Moment of Truth. In fact, capitalism is not working for the vast majority of humanity that lives on the planet. Two thirds of the world's population has been locked out of the global economy, forced to operate outside the rule of law, they have no legal identity, no credit, no capital, and thus no way to prosper. To unlock The Power of the Poor is to change the world. If we fail, these people will turn against capitalism as they have turned against other failed economic systems, and that could make for a very difficult, violent time. Filmed on location from Latin America to Africa, The Power of the Poor will demonstrate how free markets, individual freedom and especially the right to property can transform the poor into the most powerful resource in the world. At its heart is the potential triumph of capitalism as a system.